


Merry and Bright

by makeitmine



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Skank Kurt Hummel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 01:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20498384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makeitmine/pseuds/makeitmine
Summary: Kurt has worked for years to keep others from getting to see the real him. Vulnerability is unnecessary. But he starts to fall for the dreamy singer that shows up at The Lima Bean every week and maybe, just maybe, it's time to open up.Or, Skank!Kurt meets Warbler!Blaine





	Merry and Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AnomalyReads](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnomalyReads/gifts).

> So if the first third of this fic sounds familiar, it should. It was originally my Klaine Advent story back in 2016. Yes, I finished something after three years. When I read about the WIP Big Bang I knew it was something I had to do just to get at least one of these off my conscience. The funny thing is, I still didn't know what I was really doing with it until this last month when I formed a concrete plot. Moral of the story: winging things is stupid. Procrastination is stupid. Don't be like me.
> 
> BTW, I still worked all 24 words from that Advent in. Good luck finding them.
> 
> A huge shoutout and a thousand apologies also goes to anomalyreads. A month after I started this I offered my works in the Fandom Hates Trump charity drive. She won and asked me if I could finish either this or I Have Nothing. This wormed its way in somehow, and I hope you enjoy what came out!
> 
> I also received some wonderful art for the story from the lovely Kay, which you can find [here](https://aaweth-edain.livejournal.com/28391.html)!

He’s in The Lima Bean every Thursday evening, like clockwork. Ever since Kurt’s general manager instituted his “Artists of Allen County idea weeks ago, the music performances have been booked by this kid.

It’s not that he isn’t talented, because he certainly is. Kurt wonders if he’s on the show choir circuit, if he’s performed against New Directions before. He could ask Finn but Finn can hardly remember if he put deodorant on that morning, let alone the names of the competition.

The kid--Blaine, he tells the audience at the beginning of his set--is mesmerizing. His voice is pure and clean, nothing like the so-called singers that grace the radio waves these days. His wardrobe is a little outdated (a cardigan and a bowtie? Kurt scoffs at the thought, even though those used to be his staples once upon a time) and his hair is set with an enormous amount of gel that Kurt cringes at the thought of how dried out Blaine’s hair gets. The sorority girls from the University of Lima caught Blaine’s set the second week and have continuously grabbed tables near his keyboard every Thursday since. Blaine’s set routinely ranges from top 40 (songs that Kurt only recognizes thanks to Santana’s numerous playlists) to Broadway to classic standards, and the fangirls cheer loudly as soon as he’s done.

What piques Kurt’s interest, however, is that once Blaine wraps his set he never engages any more with the girls. He comes up to the counter, orders a medium drip, and smiles warmly at Kurt as he receives his drink. Once he takes a sip he returns to the stage to pack up his keyboard and head out. Kurt isn’t sure if it’s a sign that Blaine plays for his team or if he’s just incredibly friendly.

But if it’s the former, Kurt can’t do it. He’s getting the hell out of Lima as soon as he has the money to move in with Santana. What good would starting a relationship with a fellow Buckeye be? And who’s to say Blaine would even be interested in someone like Kurt, with all his piercings and his bright and ever-changing hair color? They’re night and day.

* * *

Kurt loathes the Black Friday crowd. Before his...turn, so to speak, he was among them, heading out shopping well before sunlight with Grandma Hummel since his dad had to work that morning. When he was sixteen he went with Mercedes and they had a good time. Today, though, as soccer moms rush through with their Coach bags and their North Face jackets, he wants them all to leave.

Santana arrives during a lull after the lunchtime rush and tries to cheer him up. “You should have seen the Warblers last night,” she says as she recounts the show choir sectional competition that took place at McKinley. “Their lead singer is like, the male version of Berry and so, so flaming. But he’s pretty damn talented.”

Kurt rolls his eyes. “Okay, and why should I care? It’s not like I’ve been a part of New Directions in two years. And why were you there anyway?”

“Because Finn invited the graduates back, which I figured he told you.” Kurt shrugs his shoulders; he vaguely remembers Finn asking if he could attend something on Thanksgiving evening, but he politely declined. “Also because you need to get laid,” Santana continues.

“You’re the only person who seems to think that,” Kurt quips. He notices a glare from Ryan, the shift manager, and he grabs a spray bottle and towel to wipe down the counter while Santana talks.

“Hummel, one look at this boy’s ass and you’d be dragging him into bed in no time. He filled out those horrid polyester pants in amazing ways.”

“You sure you’re a lesbian?” Other than Quinn for a few months as she tried to rebel from her picture-perfect life and Finn for familial reasons, Santana has miraculously been the one member of New Directions Kurt has remained in contact with. He thinks it’s because he can snark with the best of them, and she appreciates that. A year after he quit glee club for the Skanks she came to him for the first time, just as she was coming to terms with her feelings for Brittany and contemplating coming out. Ever since they’ve been the unlikeliest pals, the slacker and the cheerleader, bonded by their sexualities and hatred of most people.

“Trust me, Pinky,” she smirks.

The bell above the front door chimes and Kurt looks up from his cleaning, only to see Blaine walk through the threshold. “Holy shit,” Santana hisses, “that’s the Warblers’ lead singer. You better get his number and tap that.”

“Santana, go away,” he whispers, stowing the cleaning supplies under the counter and attempting to look professional. She stalks off to a table as he turns on his most syrupy-sweet customer service voice. “Hi, welcome to The Lima Bean, what can I serve you today?”

“Can I get a peppermint hot chocolate and a chocolate biscotti, please?”Blaine orders with his usual thousand-watt smile.

Kurt nods, grabbing a paper cup off the stack next to the register. “You’re switching it up today, aren’t you?”

Blaine blushes--well that’s new. “Oh, yeah, I only get the coffee to help me stay awake as I drive back to campus. It’s not quite as necessary today since I’m home for the weekend.”

“Is it that long of a drive?”

“Two hours,” Blaine says. “I’m a senior at Dalton Academy, in Westerville.”

“Wow.” Kurt punches the boxes on his register’s screen and totals it. “That’ll be four seventy-two, Blaine.”

Blaine swipes his debit card and enters his pin. “How was your Thanksgiving, Kurt?”

Kurt doesn’t remember ever telling Blaine his name and wonders how he got it, until he realizes his nametag is on. “Okay, I guess,” he says as he hands the receipt to Blaine. “I spent a lot of time hiding from my step-grandparents. They aren’t exactly fond of me and my lifestyle. You?”

“Same except I spent my time hiding from my overbearing brother. Did you redo your hair?”

It’s almost enough for Kurt to drop the cup as he’s pumping chocolate syrup into it. “Yeah, Wednesday night.”

“It looks good,” Blaine says. “I could never pull off pink like that, but you make it work.”

Damn Blaine and his utterly charming self. “I don’t know, maybe if you dropped all that shellack in your hair you could dye it.”

Blaine chuckles. “Trust me, you don’t want to see my hair in its natural state. It’s a nightmare to control every morning.”

Kurt moves to the back counter so he can steam the milk. His phone vibrates in his pocket, and he knows it’s Santana sending some form of ‘wanky’ to him. This is the most he’s spoken to Blaine since he began performing at The Lima Bean. Although Kurt now understands why Blaine leaves in a hurry, he’s now more confused as to why he makes that drive every Thursday.

When the milk is frothed to excellence he pours it into the cup, then he grabs the can of whipped cream to spray on top. It may be a more generous amount than management prefers, but Kurt doesn’t care. He then sprinkles some cocoa powder over the cream before adding the lid. He sets the drink on the pickup counter before shuffling over to the baked goods case and pulling out the largest biscotti on display. Kurt bags it up and hands it to Blaine. “Here you go,” he says with a smile.

“Thank you, Kurt,” Blaine replies, returning the smile. “I’ve gotta run, but I’ll see you next Thursday night, okay?”

Kurt nods. “I’ll be here.”

When Blaine leaves Kurt only has one thought on his mind: that really is a splendid ass.

* * *

Being closed on Thanksgiving only makes the sorority girls that much more rabid for Blaine’s set the following week.

“”Melanie, I dare you to ask him out tonight,” Kurt overhears the blonde say to the redhead as they wait for their vanilla-soy-no-foam-double-shot concoctions.

“No way, Hannah, he’s got to have a girlfriend!” Melanie exclaims. Kurt snickers to himself--he’s fairly sure now that Blaine doesn’t have one.

“Do it and I’ll take your cleaning duties next week.”

“Ugh, you’re on.”

Just before Kurt finishes the drinks he sees Melanie walk over to the “stage” where Blaine is setting up. “Hi, Blaine,” she says, swishing her long locks over her shoulder. “I just came over to wish you good luck tonight. Not that you need it, because you’re really talented.”

Blaine offers her a smile--seriously, does he do anything but smile? “Thank you, dear. I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.”

“Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner tomorrow night? Are you familiar with Breadstix?”

“I’m familiar.” Kurt watches Blaine start to get uncomfortable with where the conversation is going.

“Great! Wanna meet there at, say, seven?”

He chuckles as he plugs the last cord into his keyboard. “That’s very sweet of you to offer, but I’m afraid I have to turn you down.”

Melanie deflates. “Oh. Well, what about Saturday night? Or even next week?”

Blaine stands up and places a hand on Melanie’s shoulder. “Look, I can see that you’re a very sweet girl. And I would be happy to go out with you, if only I weren’t interested in my own gender.”

Melanie’s jaw drops open as her face turns as scarlet as her hair. “I--I’m sorry,” she stammers. “I wasn’t aware…” Kurt doesn’t hear the rest of the conversation as he has to redo the drinks after Hannah dropped both cups when Blaine answered. She quickly grabs the redone coffees and dashes off after Melanie, who apparently decided not to stick around for the evening.

Blaine does well despite the preshow incident. Now that it’s December, he throws in a Christmas tune that makes Kurt bob along as he fixes other customers’ orders. After he finishes and packs up, he walks up to the counter where Kurt is already handing him his coffee. “You know my order?”

“I thought we established this last week?” Kurt grins. “I’m sorry about what happened before the show.”

Blaine waves him off as he takes the first sip of his coffee, briefly wincing at the temperature. “No worries. It’s not like the girls at our sister school don’t constantly hit on me.”

“Your boyfriend doesn’t mind?”

“There’s no boyfriend to mind.”

Kurt feels his heart skip a beat. God, he shouldn’t feel like this. He’s done everything over the past two years to tune his feelings out “Well, I hope you have a safe drive back to Dalton,” he says, “and that those girls don’t give you too much of a hard time.”

“They never do,” Blaine grins. “See you next week, Kurt!”

“See you!” Kurt replies. As soon as Blaine’s out the door, though, Kurt remembers he’s scheduled off next Thursday. That isn’t good.

* * *

Friday evening, Kurt receives bad news.

Early Saturday morning he’s out the door before dawn, needing to get away from the house.

It feels strange driving to McKinley six months after he graduated, but he needs his spot. He needs to be alone and soak up the bomb dropped on him by his father.

The ugly C-bomb.

When Kurt stops and parks his truck near the stadium, he jumps out with a thermos full of coffee. His combat boots tread up the familiar dirt path to his old spot. Mack and Ronnie are long gone, having left for the west coast the moment they threw their mortarboards in the air. Not that Kurt wants any company today.

Kurt plops down on the old, worn couch that served as a second home during his final two years of school. He pulls his phone out to call work, citing a family emergency as his reason to not come in for his shift today. It’s the truth. As soon as he hangs up with Ryan, he puts his phone on silent and tucks it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

And he immediately breaks down.

It’s the first time Kurt remembers crying since he sat next to his father’s hospital bed willing him to wake up. When he was rudely shoved into the lockers by Karofsky the next morning, he decided he’d had enough of being the token gay kid. Within weeks he traded his old, stylish wardrobe for leather jackets and ripped jeans, pierced his ears, eyebrow, and lip, and added a shock of green to his hair. He dropped out of New Directions and found solace under the bleachers with the girls known as the Skanks.

For two years Kurt has perfected his cold exterior and interior. He’s allowed very few people in: his dad and Carole (Finn, he can give or take depending on the day), Mack and Ronnie, and Santana. He lost his virginity to a grad student named Michael that he met at Scandals--something that the old Kurt would be terrified of. He doesn’t need a boyfriend or a relationship.

But god, there’s something about Blaine that penetrates Kurt’s mind and refuses to let go. He’s everything Kurt used to be and now wants nothing to do with, but his allure is so strong. And if Kurt had a boyfriend, he’d probably be comforted a little more…

No. It’s still not happening. Blaine’s still in high school, and Kurt will hopefully be out of this hellhole before then.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” he mutters as the first rays of sunlight hits the football field. “Am I that pathetic?”

He knows the answer; he isn’t pathetic. He’s allowed to grieve and hope for the best for his dad. He’s allowed to find the cute singer attractive. Nobody will tell him otherwise. He just doesn’t want to feel this way.

He sits for hours, crying off and on, until Santana hunts him down and cradles him against her.

* * *

“Hey, killer. You up for a movie tonight?”

Blaine shakes his head at Sebastian’s request. “I can’t. I have to work on my set list for this week.”

Sebastian chuckles. “It’s only Sunday. Can’t you just half-ass it Thursday when you’re driving to Limburger, or wherever it is your mom moved to?”

“It’s Lima,” Blaine corrects him. “And no, it has to be perfect.”

“What’s his name?”

Blaine turns to glare at Sebastian, who’s still standing in the doorway. “What makes you think there’s a guy?”

Sebastian steps into Blaine’s dorm room. “Because I’ve learned that if there’s something that Blaine Anderson cares deeply about, he’s going to make sure it’s perfect ahead of time. Your grades, the Warblers, your college applications…”

“Not all of us have a legacy into Cornell like you do,” Blaine quips.

“Ad besides, from what I heard the last guy you were into you serenaded in public.” Blaine groans at the mention of Jeremiah. “Obviously if I was never lucky enough to get a heartfelt number from you, this guy must be. So spill it.”

“Fine.” Blaine rolls his chair away from the desk and stares at Sebastian. “His name is Kurt, he’s a barista at the coffeeshop I sing at, and he’s--”

He’s at a loss on how to describe Kurt, mostly because he knows little else about him. Okay, he knows that he at least has a stepfamily from their conversation, if you can call it that, the day after Thanksgiving. “He’s unique,” Blaine says.

Sebastian chuckles. “I’m sure that’s a fair description.

“I can’t really describe him. Kurt is one of those guys that--he sticks out in a crowd.”

Blaine’s sure that’s the entire reason why he’s crushing on Kurt. One stroll around Dalton Academy and he would never set his sights on someone with bubblegum-pink hair and piercings--both of which are outlawed by the school’s dress code. And he wonders if maybe he finds Kurt attractive because he’s trying to break away from the image he’s perfected throughout his life. Blaine has always tried to be the perfect son, the one who kept his parents’ always-strained marriage on the up-and-up.

Everything has changed since his mom filed for divorce and moved to Lima. Blaine’s father has all but said two words to him since the school year began, only mentioning that he hopes Blaine can get enough financial aid in college after the tuition that’s been paid to Dalton for three years. He’s eighteen now, and he needs to see the uniqueness in the world and not just the ritzy Columbus suburbs he’s spent his life in.

Who knows, maybe there will be another Kurt once he gets to New York?

* * *

Much to Blaine’s chagrin, many of the Warblers learned of his weekly mini-concert--and of his favorite barista--by the time rehearsal begins Monday afternoon.

Nick takes his seat next to Blaine at the captains’ table. “So, you think the school will be up for us going on a field trip after class on Thursday?”

“I doubt it,” Blaine groans and he glares across the room at Sebastian. “How many people want to go?”

“At least ten.”

He drops his head onto the large oak table. “Nick, it’s a two hour drive to a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. Why would any of you want to come all that way?”

“My guess? You’re the best singer the Warblers have had since Christopher Horton, class of 1974…”

“Please stop talking to Wes…”

Nick laughs. “But they also want to see this guy you have the hots for. Sebastian claims he’s a divorced forty-year-old who suddenly had a revelation after a guys’ night out.”

Blaine rolls his eyes. Of course Sebastian is wishing for the worst. “I never said a word about what Kurt looks like,” he replies.

“But he’s good looking?” Nick asks.

“I’m going to tell Marissa you’re asking how hot a guy is,” Blaine jokes.

“She won’t mind.”

“Good. And honestly, Nick, I don’t want that many people there. Maybe just you, Trent, and Sebastian. With midterms next week, you know everyone’s looking for an excuse to get out of here before lockdown begins.”

“True. And I’ll call off the cavalry. Just promise me one thing?”

“Yeah?” Blaine asks.

“I get to be best man when you two get married.”

He chuckles. “Good one.” After a glance at his watch, Blaine stands up and clears his throat. “Okay, Warblers, let’s get started,” he calls out. “We only have ten days until our holiday concert and a lot of arrangements to get through…”

* * *

Blaine assumed that not driving to Lima for once, as they’re taking the trip in Trent’s minivan, would give him an edge in mentally preparing for the gig. Instead he spends most of the drive thinking about Kurt. Sebastian’s second-hand knowledge of the Jeremiah mess is what led to this, and Blaine wishes he had the guts to tell his friends not to come see him sing to a boy and potentially cause chaos again. But Nick and Trent were his biggest comfort after the humiliation, so they’re the two he trusts enough to not make a big deal. And even if Sebastian scoffs at Kurt’s appearance, Blaine won’t take anything from it. He knows Sebastian has impossibly high standards for potential fuckbuddies and zero interest in finding someone long-term. Blaine doesn’t want something like that either, but he’d like to get to New York with one relationship under his belt.

They arrive at The Lima Bean with plenty of time for Blaine to set his kit up. Nick hops out of the van and opens the back up to help haul things in. Trent opens the door of the shop for them, and Sebastian, of course, starts to scope the place out for Kurt. As they reach the closed-off section Matthew, the general manager, has set aside for Blaine, Sebastian joins them with a cup of coffee. “Alright Anderson, I know your tastes are a bit outrageous but that can’t be the guy you’re lusting after.”

Blaine blushes and turns to the counter only to see Jack, one of Kurt’s older coworkers, behind the counter. “No, that’s not him,” he says deflatedly.

In all his planning and anticipation for this evening he hadn’t expected that Kurt wouldn’t be working. He’s been here every Thursday since Blaine first walked in during fall break. It’ll be okay, though. Blaine’s a professional and he still has a job to do.

The crowd isn’t as enthusiastic as it has been in recent weeks. He wonders if it’s because the fangirls he’d picked up were turned off when he came out to them. Trent does his best to cheer Blaine on. “Sing Raise Your Glass!” he shouts after Blaine’s penultimate song.

Blaine chuckles. “Thanks for the request, but I think I’ll go in a different, more seasonal direction. This was my favorite holiday song growing up.” He starts playing the opening chords to The Little Drummer Boy and loses himself in the song.

As he thanks everyone afterwards and heads to the counter to order his coffee, he bumps into another patron. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he apologizes before looking up.”

Kurt’s blue-gray eyes shine down on him. “Hello there.”

“Hi,” Blaine replies. He’s stunned to see Kurt out of uniform--he looks stunning in a white henley, ripped black jeans, boots, and a gray beanie artfully placed so wisps of pink sneak through. “I didn’t think you were here today,” Blaine adds.

“I wasn’t,” Kurt says quickly. “I mean, I had the day off, actually, but my friend thought I should still come in to see y--see the talent.”

Blaine stares at Kurt, jaw slacked. Before he can put together a coherent sentence a hand claps his shoulder. “Ready to go, killer?” Sebastian asks.

“Oh, um, yeah, almost.” Blaine pulls ever so slightly away from Sebastian. “I’m just gonna get a coffee for the road.”

Sebastian chuckles. “I swear your blood has to be made of coffee beans, Anderson.”

As Sebastian walks away Kurt stares down at the linoleum. “I should let you go then,” he mumbles.

“Kurt, are you okay?” Blaine asks.

“Fine, why?”

“You don’t seem like it.”

Kurt looks up and he seems sadder than in recent weeks--not closed off like the first night Blaine met him, but something has obviously had an impact on him. “It’s been a long week,” Kurt sighs.

“I’m here to lend an ear if you want…”

“No, Blaine, you need to get back to Westerville. I’m not going to hold you or your friends up.”

Blaine pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Then can I text you sometime?” he asks. Kurt hesitates for a minute before nodding and taking the phone to enter his number. When he gives it back Blaine smiles at him. “Thanks so much,” he says.

“Any time.” Kurt manages to force a smile, and Blaine melts again.

“I’ll text you when I get to school, alright? Have a good evening.”

Kurt nods. “You too, Blaine.”

Trent and Nick have everything packed up and loaded by the time Blaine gets outside. As he settles into the van and buckles up Sebastian turns to him. “That is what you have the hots for?”

“Shut up, Sebastian.” He plugs a pair of headphones in and drowns his friends out during the ride back. This is not the time for their judgment.

* * *

Kurt is halfway through his skincare routine when he hears his phone buzz on the nightstand. He ignores it, assuming it’s Santana wanting to get sloshed with him. The past week has drained his energy and he wants nothing but an uninterrupted ten hours of sleep.

When he finishes up and crawls under his duvet, he opens the text up to see it isn’t from Santana but from an unknown number.

_Made it back to Dalton!_

Kurt can’t help but grin at the message. _Good! I was worried how those boys would drive_ he replies back before adding Blaine’s number to his contacts.

_Trent is a very safe driver. He won’t even go until everyone is buckled up_

_Well that makes me feel better. But what entertainment did you have for two hours?_

_A Journey singalong...Nick’s choice_

_Okay now I’m confused. Which guy’s which? Also my condolences, I...have issues with that band_

_Nick is the one with dark hair, Trent is the chubby one, and Sebastian is the one you met_

Kurt cringes at the mental image of Sebastian. Just the few seconds in his presence gave Kurt a whiff of Privileged White Boy. Which, yes, he knows Blaine is too if he’s attending Dalton, but Blaine has a shred of awareness to the world around him. He could tell Kurt was upset about his dad and wants to help.

But Kurt Hummel doesn’t do that. He can’t open up to a virtual stranger he’s been ogling for weeks. Vulnerability will only drive Blaine away.

He figures a change of subject is in order. _So any ideas what you’re playing next week?_ he asks.

_Sadly I won’t be back until January. Finals are next week and as soon they’re done I have to go to Virginia until the new year_

_Bummer. Thursdays will be boring until then_

Kurt stares at his last message waiting for a response. It’s probably too far. He backs out and opens his conversation with Santana. As he’s typing a word vomit on how stupid he is Blaine replies.

_I bet. Tbh I wish I wasn’t going. It’s my dad’s family and they’re...conservative?_  
They’re Filipino and have certain traditions they believe in  
They didn’t like that my dad married a white woman and they’re less thrilled about my sexual preference 

_I’m sorry Blaine. Do you and your mom need to get away? I have connections in DC_

_That’s okay. My mom isn’t going...they’re getting a divorce  
That’s why she and I came to Lima_

_Ahhh. I wondered why I never saw you around McKinley when I went there_

_Yeah I grew up in Dublin and went to HS there until I transferred to Dalton_

Kurt assumes there’s a story behind the last message but he doesn’t want to delve into it. He then sees it’s almost midnight. _I better let you go so you can sleep and be a good student in the morning_

_Lol thanks for that. I’ll probably sleep in physics anyway, it’s a boring class and even worse first period  
Night Kurt_

_Night Blaine_ Kurt plugs his phone in and lays down. He’s in deep already. Maybe too deep.

* * *

Three weeks without Blaine is too long. Kurt spends time at work, time with Burt at his doctor’s appointments, and time trying not to think about Blaine. Christmas Day is fine if only for not having to brew coffee for the entitled too-lazy-to-do-it-myself crowd. And he receives some nice presents from Burt, Carole, Finn, and Santana.

Thankfully Santana doesn’t say anything until New Year’s Eve when she invites him over to her house. As soon as they open the vodka she goes right in.

“So anything going on between you and the open mic gelhead?”

Kurt rolls his eyes before downing a shot. “Do you have to?”

“Of course I do. And judging by your reaction I’m guessing the only action is between you, your hand, and your favorite dildo.” He ignores her, mostly because he did get himself off this afternoon since he didn’t have to work and had the house to himself. “Not even a kiss? Jesus, you’re pathetic.”

“I’m not pathetic, Santana,” he snaps. “And why should there be anything between me and Blaine?”

She shrugs as she pours him another shot. “A combination of your dry spell and his obvious bad boy fantasy.”

“I’ve dated one guy. There’s no such thing as a dry spell when my love life resembles the Sahara.”

“And this Blake kid…”

“Blaine.”

“He doesn’t care?”

“Why should he?” Kurt asks. “He’s a private school kid. He doesn’t need to be saddled down by my issues when he likely wants a guy who will give him the world. What do I have to offer him? A fucking medium drip.”

“Been there,” Santana snorts. Kurt knows this...he spent a week talking Santana off the ledge after she ended things with Brittany. If she had taken the scholarship she was offered at the University of Louisville she’d be better off.

“And he’s been with family since school let out,” Kurt continues. “I haven’t seen him since that Thursday I was off.”

“Damn. When’s he coming home?”

“Not until late Thursday, so he won’t be performing then either.”

“Think he’ll stop in anyway?”

Kurt nods. “Oh, no doubt. Two weeks with homophobic grandparents? He has to recover.”

“Hmmm, maybe I should stop in to share my experience with that,” Santana says.

“You will not,” he says adamantly. “For all I know you’ll somehow lock him and me in the restroom and refuse to let us out until we’ve made out.”

She smirks. “You know me too well. But that is better than your Victorian courtship. I mean, come on Kurt, are you waiting for him to show you his shoulder?”

“I’m waiting to not be a fuckup, Santana. And that’s going to be a while.”

“Oh no,” Santana replies as she straddles across his lap, vodka bottle still in hand. “You, Kurt Hummel, are not a fuckup. Underneath your hard, bitchy exterior is a kindhearted man who is afraid of getting something he wants. And if that’s a prep school kid who is the literal embodiment of a sunbeam and sings like he deserves to have millions of fangirls--and boys--ogling him in an arena? Then get him. You think just because your dad is sick that you don’t deserve something good? You’re wrong. I’m sure he’ll drop to his knees and give you the best blowjob of your life the moment you ask him.”

“Okay, okay, you pregamed before I got here, didn’t you?” Kurt pushes Santana off of him and takes the bottle away, taking a swig before he caps it up. But he knows she’s right. He deserves happiness.

And when Blaine sends him a happy New Year text moments after the ball drops, Kurt can’t help but smile.

* * *

Blaine knows his mom wants him home right away, but as he reaches the Lima city limits he knows there’s another place he needs to go first.

The holidays with his grandparents were rough, as he expected. They spent days doting on his cousin Yolanda, a freshman pre-med student at Harvard, and all but ignoring his own plans for the future. She even got to bring her boyfriend to Christmas dinner while they refused to ask Blaine how his love life was going.

Even his own father was fed up with their favoritism by the end of it. Tomas and Blaine have had their differences over the past several years, but Blaine has seen him become more accommodating of his choices. The drive to Virginia included a lengthy discussion about Blaine’s future, where Tomas said he would support him whatever he chooses. Blaine wonders if it’s guilt from the divorce and his choice to live with his mom.

The one thing that kept his sanity in check throughout the past eleven days has been his now nearly-daily conversations with Kurt. Even the smiley face Kurt sent back after Blaine wished him a happy New Year was better than the first thing his grandfather said to ring in 2013: “Kid, it isn’t too late to change your dreams.”

But now is not the time to let his grandparents ruin things. Blaine is a semester away from graduation, he has a trip to Regionals to help the Warblers prepare for, and his acceptance letters should start arriving soon.

And he has a pink-haired barista to impress.

A smile starts to form as Blaine pulls into the parking lot. He parks and exits the car, pulling his peacoat tight around him as the evening chill brushes his skin. Getting inside can’t happen quickly enough.

A melodic voice greets Blaine as he enters. There’s a girl about his age performing tonight. A posterboard to the right of the performing area states she is Rachel Berry, a freshman at NYADA. She’s singing a song he recognizes from one of the latest Broadway shows and he thinks he’ll spend a few minutes listening to her once he gets his coffee. She’s incredibly talented, moreso than even he is. Then he realizes she competed with New Directions the last couple years.

When she finishes he applauds politely. She curtsies towards him, the only patron giving her more than partial attention. “Thank you, thank you,” she replies. “This next song is one I have a deep personal connection to--well, I have a deep personal connection to every Broadway song, of course. But this is a classic from the always timeless, Ms. Barbra Streisand…”

A body comes into Blaine’s peripheral view. “Way to go, now we might not get her off stage until we close.”

He turns to see Kurt, towel draped over his shoulder, holding a coffee and pastry bag in his hand. “Hey!” Blaine says. “She is good, isn’t she?”

Kurt laughs, and it’s a sound that melts away the stress of Blaine’s trip. “The only thing bigger than her talent is her ego.” He offers Blaine the treats. “Here you go, on the house.”

“You didn’t have to,” Blaine protests before Kurt shushes him. “I’m not making someone who’s been in a car all day pay. Also I was able to push my lunch break back to now if you want to have a seat.”

“Sure, that would be great,” Blaine says. He follows Kurt to a table on the opposite side of the shop from where Rachel is. He settles in and listens. “So how well do you know Rachel?” he asks as he pulls the biscotti out of the bag.

Kurt shrugs. “We had a few classes together. And she dated my stepbrother off and on.”

“So not well?”

“She’s a nuisance who, up until this evening, I thought only wore animal sweaters.”

“Really?”

“There may have once been an attempt at getting her to look like Sandy from Grease--and I mean Bad Sandy. But she looked more like a sad clown hooker.”

Blaine loses it at the mental image. “Where did this come from?”

Kurt shrugs. “I heard it around school.”

“Oh, Kurt!” they hear a minute later as Rachel approaches their table. “I haven’t seen you in so long! How are you?”

Blaine watches as Kurt prepares to answer. “I’ve been alright. And you? How’s New York?”

“It’s so amazing you don’t even know! Every dream we had about it has been outdone. And NYADA is great as well. Did you know I won their Winter Showcase this year? First freshman in history!”

“Wow, that’s terrific.”

“Thank you. Now, I hate to interrupt your date, but I’ll be in town for another week if you want to catch up!” Rachel runs off as fast as she arrived, talking to the pianist she brought about an encore.

Blaine turns to Kurt. He’s confused, and not just about the ‘date’ comment, although he’d be pleased if it were. “Kurt, why was she implying you two were friends before?” he asks.

Kurt bites his lip. “Because we were.” He then opens up to Blaine about his high school years: about being a closeted outcast, joining New Directions--a fact that makes Blaine want to hear Kurt’s voice and plan duets with him--coming out and gaining a support system within the choir, begrudgingly forming a friendship with Rachel after the ill-fated makeover from before, the increased bullying his junior year, and how he suddenly became fed up and knew he needed a new identity with a group called the Skanks, abandoning everyone except Santana and Finn.

“And now you know who Kurt Hummel is,” he sighs at the end. “I’m sure you’re happy about that.”

“I am,” Blaine says, crossing his arms across his chest. “I knew you haven’t wanted to talk about yourself much, but Kurt? You are the single most interesting kid in all of Ohio.”

Kurt’s jaw drops. “Wait, really?”

He nods and smiles. “Maybe ditching your old friends isn’t right, but I get it.”

“You do?” Kurt’s phone goes off before Blaine answers. “Damn, my break’s over. If you want to stick around to talk some more I’ll be done with closing in an hour or so.”

Blaine checks his watch. “As much as I’d like to, I haven’t seen my mom since before Christmas so I better get going. I won’t be heading back to Dalton until Sunday though, so maybe we can get together again?”

“I’m working every day this weekend,” Kurt bemoans.

“I’m sorry. Then I’ll see you next Thursday.”

“I’m writing you on the calendar as soon as I get back there.”

They stand up and before Blaine can pick up his trash, Kurt pulls him into a hug. “Thank you,” he whispers into Blaine’s ear.

Blaine doesn’t want to leave his arms, but as soon as Kurt’s manager clears his throat it ends. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

Blaine does his best to not let senioritis hamper his final semester. While some of his fellow Warblers--namely Sebastian--have taken to slacking off as acceptance letters arrive and they send their confirmations in, he is just as focused as he was before the winter.

“You know,” Sebastian says while they’re hanging out in Blaine’s dorm room, Blaine doing homework and Sebastian flipping through the various game shows and judge programs on his television, “I thought having a juvenile delinquent as your boyfriend would finally make you more fun.”

Blaine tosses his pen down in his “Okay, one? Kurt has never done any sort of crime either before or after he turned eighteen. And two? He isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still playing hard to get, killer. Come on, show him your dick.”

“Do you have to be so crude?”

“Would I be me if I weren’t?”

“I guess not,” Blaine says. “And...I don’t know. There are times when I think Kurt wants to make that move then backs off. Maybe he isn’t as interested in me as I thought.”

Sebastian lies down on his side facing Blaine’s desk. “Why wouldn’t he be interested in you? You’re the literal embodiment of a Boy Scout. Hell, I’m not sure you aren’t driving around on weekends helping every little old lady in the Columbus area with her groceries.”

“It’s not that, Sebastian,” Blaine sighs. He’s made all but one Thursday night trip to Lima over the past month, but they haven’t had any more deep chats at The Lima Bean. A lot of that is contributed to them being short-staffed and Kurt unable to take a break after Blaine’s performances. And Blaine doesn’t feel like serious topics are appropriate for their constant text messages. He still hasn’t opened up about things such as the attack at his old high school or why Kurt was so reserved the last night before Christmas, the night they began texting each other.

“Well it’s got to be something,” Sebastian muses. “Shit, what if you’re the other man?”

“He told me he’s single.”

“But he might not be.”

“I really don’t think Kurt is that kind of person. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get at least one subject completed before dinner.”

“Fine,” Sebastian says. He gets off the bed, grabs his blazer, and heads to Blaine’s door. “You should do something for him this week. Sing a completely saccharine song that will have him declare his need to give you pink-haired babies.” He’s out the door before Blaine can come up with a comeback.

Blaine finishes his history assignment and gets started on his calculus homework before he needs to go to dinner. Sebastian doesn’t bring up their chat during dinner, which Blaine is thankful for. The last thing he needs is for the rest of the guys to offer their own advice. Even if they’re well-meaning, Blaine would rather make out with Sebastian than listen to their own girlfriend stories.

After dinner he stops by the dormitory’s mail room to check if he got anything. A single envelope is in the box, and when Blaine sees the return address after he takes it out he nearly drops it. He rushes back to his room, locks the door, and sits on his bed staring at the envelope. It’s minutes before he gets the courage to open it and read the contents, but he does so.

_Dear Mr. Anderson,_

_On behalf of New York University, we are pleased to welcome you to the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development for the class of two thousand and seventeen. Your portfolio was well-received by our faculty and we hope you choose to continue your education with us. Here at New York University…_

Blaine throws the packet on his bed and squeals. He’s going to study music at NYU, just as he wanted.

Except that also means that the other thing he wants can’t happen.

* * *

Santana saunters up to the counter when there’s a lull in business. “Boy toy isn’t here yet?”

Kurt could smack her if he wouldn’t lose his job for assaulting customers. “Probably another fifteen minutes. Why do you care?”

“Oh you know why I care,” she grins, tapping her pink nails on the counter. As if Kurt needed the reminder that today happens to be Valentine’s Day.

“Weren’t you supposed to be at Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury’s wedding anyway?” he asks. “Or could you not stand to watch Britt suck face with Sam the entire evening?”

Santana smirks. “You didn’t hear? Emma called it off, and rumor around town is that your brother may be the reason why.”

“Finn? What?” Kurt recoils in disgust at the thought of Finn with their guidance counselor, who up until this moment he assumed was ready to marry the man of her dreams.

“Just what I heard. It was cancelled this morning., but Quinn and Puck want to go out and get trashed, so I should probably show up at the hotel to prevent them from giving Beth a biological sibling.”

A couple walks up behind Santana, and she steps aside so Kurt can serve them. He’s occupied with their coffees when Blaine shows up, and before Kurt finishes the order a line starts to form. He disappointed; he was hoping to chat with Blaine before the performance, but he doesn’t think that will happen.

Sure enough he’s still going when George steps to the microphone to introduce Blaine to the crowd. A few disinterested claps bring Blaine to his bench.

“Thank you everyone, and I hope you’re all having a happy Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re in love or are hoping to soon be in love--or even if you don’t believe in love--I hope I have something for each and every one of you to enjoy this evening.”

Blaine’s set list is, predictably, all love songs. Kurt can’t help but sing along with a few of them behind the counter. He watches every second he can--Blaine has turned his charm up to eleven, and the patrons are livelier than Kurt has ever seen before. He’d never expect a coffeeshop to be a perfect Valentine’s Day setting.

As Blaine winds down he speaks to the audience again. “For my last number, I thought I’d try something a little different. It’s a new arrangement I’ve spent time working on outside of school, and I hope you all enjoy it.” He plays a few slow chords before he starts to sing.

“You think I’m pretty without any makeup on…”

Kurt stops wiping the counter and fixates his attention on Blaine. If he weren’t familiar with Katy Perry’s original version he’d think Blaine wrote this himself. And it’s stunningly beautiful.

It’s over too soon, and Kurt quickly moves to make Blaine’s coffee while Blaine packs everything up. Santana returns to the counter and is just as shocked. “I swear to god, Hummel, you have to hit that asap. You’re lucky I’m not straight because damn.”

“Shut up and go be a third wheel for Puck and Quinn,” Kurt says.

“Okay, I’m leaving. But if you tell me nothing happened after this I’m bringing the Lima Heights out.”

“Stay out of my love life, Santana.”

“Whatever,” she grumbles. “Oh, hello there,” she tells someone as she walks away.

“What was that about?” Blaine asks when he reaches the counter.

“She’s meddling in my life, as always,” Kurt says. “Care for a heart shaped cookie this evening? It fits your performance.”

“Of course, thanks,” Blaine replies. Kurt pulls a cookie from the case and bags it. “Oh, that isn’t necessary,” Blaine adds.

“What isn’t?” Kurt asks.

“The bag. I have a four day weekend so I’m staying at my mom’s.”

“Oh.” Kurt’s heart flutters and he does everything to remain stoic. “So you’re going to hang around here while I work?”

Blaine rubs the back of his neck as he stares at the counter. “I was hoping to get to talk to you after you get off work.”

He checks the clock. “That’s another forty-five minutes away…”

“That’s fine.” Blaine pays for the coffee and cookie and grabs the closest table he can. It’s the longest forty-five minutes of Kurt’s life, but when it’s time to clock out he tosses his apron off and practically runs to Blaine’s table.

“Okay, so what’s up?” he asks as he sits down.

Blaine inhales before speaking. “Kurt, I...I have to be honest. I feel like over the past four months there has been a...connection, between us. You’re so kind and generous to me, but then I wonder if it’s only an illusion.”

“It isn’t,” Kurt says.

Blaine nods. “I was attacked for being gay, when I was fourteen. I had gone to my school’s Sadie Hawkins dance with a guy I liked and came out of it with a couple broken ribs and a concussion. That’s why I go to Dalton now. They have a zero tolerance policy for bullying.”

Kurt’s face falls. This isn’t what he wanted to hear. “I’m so sorry.”

“The point is, I have no experience with this. Before today I’d only flirted with one other guy and was shot down. And I like you, Kurt, but sometimes it’s hard to see if you feel the same way.”

“Blaine…”

“It’s okay if you don’t, Kurt. I know I’m still in school and you aren’t, and I spend most of my time halfway across Ohio. But I wanted you to know.”

Kurt feels horrible. Keeping his feelings inside is how he operates. But he knows what he needs to do right now. He leans across the table and presses his lips to Blaine’s.

The kiss is everything he imagined, and it’s over all too soon when Blaine pulls away. “What are you doing?” he asks. Kurt looks and sees Blaine is scared.

“I--I thought that’s what you wanted,” Kurt replies.

“I thought it was too.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“Kurt, I’m not staying in Ohio. I’m going to college in a few months. And while I thought being your boyfriend something I wanted, I can’t do this. It’s too much.”

His heart shatters at the mention. “So that’s it?” Kurt asks, holding back the tears he feels. “You take the opportunity to tell me you like me, on Valentine’s Day, and then you don’t want anything to do with me?”

Blaine looks just as hurt as Kurt feels. “I’m sorry. I do still like you, Kurt, but it would be too difficult to start a relationship when I’ll have to break up with you in six months.”

“So? We’re teenagers, we’re supposed to break up. You can’t say you met the love of your life when you were eighteen years old, nobody can.”

“I wanted to.”

Kurt scoffs. “You don’t even know me.”

“And that’s another reason why. The only reason you told me who you are is because I asked. But you’re holding things back, I know.”

“This is insane,” Kurt shouts. “You know why I never opened up to you? Because this,” he gestures to the space between them, “is what happens. I lost my mom, and even if I don’t believe in God he’s making a second attempt on my dad’s life in the past two years. And now you’re just walking away, breaking me yet again.”

“So maybe you should let people in,” Blaine says, standing up. “Love is meant to break you. I wish you well, Kurt.”

Blaine hoists his keyboard case across his shoulder and is gone without turning back. And Kurt can’t help but cry.

* * *

Blaine changes his mind about spending the weekend in Lima. Friday morning he apologizes to his mom and leaves, hanging out at Nick’s for the rest of the holiday. Nick doesn’t ask what happened, but Saturday night he cancels his date with Marissa and brings one of his dad’s bottles of bourbon up to his bedroom. Blaine doesn’t remember the rest of the evening and wakes up Sunday afternoon with a monster hangover and a complete aversion to Wild Turkey.

He throws himself into his schoolwork and Warblers practices. When his friends inquire the following Thursday about his trips to Lima he lies and says they ended them due to low turnout. Nobody asks about Kurt.

After discussions with both Pam and Tomas about his future, his deposit to NYU is sent in the day before Regionals. The Warblers come in second to a choir from Indiana and he’s disappointed. He wanted that Nationals trip to get his mind clear.

He knows he did the right thing shooting Kurt down, but there’s a part of him that still yearns for what could have been. Maybe in another lifetime, if their time wasn’t limited. It would still be a perfect fuck you to his grandparents to tell them he’s dating a guy who looks like he belongs behind the counter of a tattoo parlor.

Several of them head to Palm Beach for spring break. He meets Cam, a freshman at Florida State, on their first night in town. By Wednesday Blaine sleeps with him. It’s only the following morning that he realizes what happened and he leaves Cam’s hotel room without disturbing his sleep.

He runs back to the Warblers’ hotel and straight to his and Sebastian’s room. When he walks in Sebastian, awake and already in his swim trunks to hit the beach, loses it. “No way, of all the people I’d have thought would never take the walk of shame…”

“Will you shut up?” Blaine asks. He stumbles across the room to his bed, where he crashes. “I fucked up, Seb.”

“No shit. Was he that bad?”

“How would I know? That was my first time.”

“So you still haven’t banged the delinquent?”

Blaine glares. “No, I fucked up with Kurt.”

“Well, yeah,” Sebastian says. “Why’d you cheat on him?”

“We never got together. I turned him down after I got my NYU letter.”

“Fuck,” Sebastian mutters. “And you want to make things right?”

“I don’t know if I can now.”

They work through a plan, and after they return to Ohio Sebastian drives Blaine to Lima. Blaine walks into The Lima Bean and right to the counter where a petite blonde is working. “Hi, how can I help you?” she asks cheerfully.

Blaine turns to Sebastian, who nods his head. “Um, I was actually wanting to know if Kurt Hummel was working today?”

“I’m sorry, who?”

“Kurt? The guy with the piercings and colored hair.”

“Shannon, I’ll take over.” Blaine sees George, the general manager, step in. “Long time no see, Blaine.”

“Yeah, sorry, school’s been taking over. Is Kurt in today?”

“He isn’t.”

“Okay,” Blaine says. “When does he work next?” He’s prepared to skip school on Monday if he has to.

“He doesn’t. Kurt quit at the end of February.”

* * *

Kurt didn’t think heartbreak would feel like this, and he and Blaine weren’t even officially dating.

After not hearing a thing from him over the next week, he knows the things are over when Blaine doesn’t show up the following Thursday. He’s sick to his stomach and George graciously allows him to leave early.

After hiding in bed all night he calls in the next morning before calling Santana. “I need your help,” Kurt says before she says hello.

“Is it Blaine related?” she asks, voice heavy with sleep. Santana doesn’t wake up before noon unless there’s a good reason, and Kurt relayed the conversation and fight to her as soon as he knew he could retell the story without sobbing.

“Screw him. I need to do something but I don’t know what.”

“Give me an hour, I have an idea.”

An hour and a half later--standard, by Santana Lopez time--she arrives at his house with bottles of hair color. “Alright, time to let go of the pretty pixie and get your edge on.”

“Sometimes you scare me,” Kurt says, but he follows her to his bathroom.

Santana sets the bottles on the counter. “If anything in here gets ruined tell the parentals and Frankenteen I’m sorry.”

“You won’t be sorry though.”

She chuckles. “Yeah, you’re right. But I will help clean it up.”

Kurt’s hair is transformed from chestnut and pink to a deep, almost black brown, to which Santana adds cobalt blue streaks. “There you go,” she says after drying and styling it into his traditional coif. “Quirky and sexy. No gay man will be able to resist you.”

He does like it. He’d never thought about going dark but it works against his pale skin. “It does make me feel a little better.”

“Good. Now, you want to hit up Scandals tonight?”

“Not really.”

She playfully shoves his shoulder. “Come on, Kurt. Go out, find a guy, get off, and leave. That’s all that needs to happen.”

“I don’t want any random guy I don’t know, Santana. I want…” he cuts off before he says Blaine’s name.

Santana shakes her head as she pours the leftover dye down the sink. “You think you’re so far from the original Kurt Hummel, but you aren’t. You still love romance, and let’s face it, you would have proposed to Blaine after that show if you were already dating.”

Kurt knows it’s true. “I don’t…”

“I know. Sharing feelings sucks. That’s why telling Brittany how I felt was the best and worst thing I ever did. Blaine wormed his way into your black heart and turned it into a rainbow, but you want it to stay black. Newsflash: it doesn’t work like that.

“This hellhole is toxic to both of us,” she continues. “You spent your life getting beaten down until you fought back. I ruled the school until a fucking pizza guy thought outing me was fun. We need to get out of Lima.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Kurt asks, knowing his bank account is barely two digits.

“I have the money Mama was going to give me for college. I set it aside waiting for the right time to use it, and I think it’s now. We can leave and start a new life, Hummel. We can start that band you’ve always wanted to be in, and we can be ourselves.”

“But my dad…”

“Is barely sick. Yeah, I know, cancer, but didn’t he say it’s a good prognosis?” Kurt nods. “I know you want to be here for him, but you don’t belong in Lima anymore. Hell, I don’t think you ever belonged here.”

He realizes she’s right. He doesn’t want to be a Lima Loser and serve coffee or work at the tire shop for his entire life. Sure, he could have gone to school but he needed a break. Getting away is suddenly the best thing he can think of. “Okay,” he says. “Where are we going?”

She grins. “Where else? New York City, babe!”

The most surprising part of Kurt and Santana’s plan to move to New York is how on board with it his father is. “You were always destined for there,” Burt says when they have the discussion, and he follows the Lopez’s example and gives Kurt the money he’d saved up for his college tuition. “I know it’s not much, but it should get you by until you can get a job.”

They arrive on a cold, rainy day, right on Rachel Berry’s doorstep. It isn’t the roommate Kurt wants, but it turns out she’s a decent one outside of the nonstop singing. They end up with an evening alone when Santana decides to hit the town.

“So, Kurt,” Rachel says as she joins him on the couch with two mugs of tea, “what are you looking to do?”

“Watch that The Facts of Life marathon,” he mutters.

“No, with your life. I know we didn’t have that much time to talk at The Lima Bean, but I want to know where you see yourself in five years? That’s my time frame to earning my first featured role, by the way.”

Kurt wants to shy away and ignore her, but Santana will smack him for not opening up. “Well, Broadway’s out of the question now that I look like this,” he says, pointing at his hair.

“That’s not true, Kurt. I think you’d be an excellent Roger Davis.”

He chuckles. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I...I don’t think I ever really thought about the future after I joined the Skanks. I mean, it’s not like they have any sort of future. Last I heard from them Ronnie got knocked up by a 30-year-old. I just...figured I’d hang around, maybe get my mechanic certification when Dad was ready to retire.”

“That’s not who you are, Kurt,” Rachel says. “You deserve to have a bright future. What about fashion? You’ve always been so forward in that, even now.”

Kurt thinks about it. “Yeah, maybe,” he says. “Maybe once I’m ready I can apply to Parsons or FIT. I still draw designs when I’m inspired to.”

“That’s great! You can easily get a portfolio going, and I can call my dads about shipping our old sewing machine we used for my dance costumes here, that way you don’t have to go out and buy one.”

“Really? That’s awfully sweet of you. Thanks a lot!” Kurt suddenly has ideas in his head of outfits he can make for the girls, somewhere in between Rachel’s conserative look and Santana’s body-conscious dresses and leggings.

Rachel wraps her free arm around him. “You’re welcome. Kurt, I really do want to be friends with you again. You got me when nobody else did, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there when things got bad.”

He smiles. “I can do friends.”

“Excellent. So, do you want to tell me what happened to the guy you were talking to that night?”

Kurt sighs and leans into her side. “His name is Blaine and he’s the lead singer of another show choir, the Warblers?”

“I knew I recognized him from somewhere!” Rachel snaps. “He’s extremely talented.”

“Oh, he definitely is. He was the usual guest on open mic nights until...until I blew what I thought was brewing between us and he walked away.”

“Kurt, I’m so sorry,” she says. “So you weren’t together?”

“I kissed him on Valentine’s Day, seconds before he ditched me.”

“Then he doesn’t deserve you. And trust me, once I let all my guy friends at NYADA know I’ve got a single friend for them they’ll be lining up to meet you.”

Kurt laughs with ease. “I highly doubt that, but okay…”

* * *

The summer between Dalton’s graduation and NYU’s orientation is long, almost too long for Blaine to deal with. He shuttles back and forth between Lima and Dublin, meeting his dad’s new girlfriend Sheryl at his Fourth of July barbecue, and outside of another disastrous week in Virginia where of course Yolanda arrived with an engagement ring and his grandmother asked when he would find a girl to marry, he spent more than enough time playing on his keyboard.

It took until the middle of April for him to be able to touch it for the first time since he saw Kurt. The reception to his interpretation of Teenage Dream has given Blaine a new interest in songwriting and he’s done a few. They’re all terrible, of course, but Trent and Nick claim they aren’t. Sebastian agrees with Blaine.

To make matters worse, Sebastian has found his own friend with benefits and is almost always at Joe’s apartment. Blaine wants to ask if they’re dating, but it rips at his heart to think of that word.

So he plays, and he writes. About love, about defying others’ expectations, about heartbreak. He sits on them and then plays them again a week before he’s set to leave.

He’s so engrossed in his playing he doesn’t hear his mom knock on the door. “Blainey?” she asks. “Are you okay?”

Blaine stops playing and looks at her. “I’m fine, Mom.”

“Are you sure?” Pam asks. The divorce was finalized in June and she’s taken a new interest in Blaine’s life. “These songs sound so…”

“Bad?”

“I was going to say somber. Can I come in?” He nods, and she enters, taking a seat next to him. “I know this last year has been hard on you, and I’m sorry.”

“What for?” Blaine asks, looking at her. “It’s not your fault you and Dad split, we all knew it was happening.”

“For ignoring you. I’ve been so busy getting my life back together, getting a new job, going to conferences for Mary Kay, and getting back into dating that I’ve neglected you. And these songs are a sign that I did.”

Blaine wraps his arms around Pam’s neck. “Mom, you did everything you could. I know you’ve always been hard on yourself because you were a single, teen mom to Cooper before you met Dad, and then I was difficult to deal with after I came out, but that never made you a bad mother. You’re the best one I know.”

Pam leans in to kiss Blaine’s forehead. “Thank you for that. I only have you for another week and I feel like I’ve missed so much. These songs...are they about someone special?”

“Someone who I thought was special,” he says.

“You thought?”

“There was a guy, here in Lima. And as much as I wanted to be with him he...he was a lot like Dad, in that he didn’t want to talk about things. And I thought I could handle that, but then I got into NYU and I realized I couldn’t do it for just a few months before I would have to walk away.”

“Blaine, why on earth would you do that?” she asks. It’s not the response Blaine expected.

“What do you mean?”

“You broke up with someone because of New York?”

“It was only one reason, I…”

“Listen to me. If you like someone and you know they like you back, you have to go for it. Why let the what-ifs take control? Maybe he would have wanted to stay with you after you left.”

“Because I want someone to be with forever, Mom,” he says. “I know it’s old-fashioned, but I’m not interested in casual dates. I actually did that in Florida and it was awful.”

“In Florida?” Pam asks.

“During Spring Break. But it made me realize I want a love that lasts, and when I came back for Kurt he was gone.”

“So you learned your lesson. Blaine, love might not last forever. Your father and I are proof positive of that. Don’t let your heart suffer because of that.”

He nods. “I understand. I just wish I could take it all back.”

Pam hugs him to her. “You can’t, but you can learn for next time.”

* * *

Kurt paces around the venue for the sixth time. “How is he late? He knows what time we go on.”

“Whoa, calm down, I’m sure there’s a good reason why,” Santana says.

“Then why hasn’t he texted me?” He retrieves his phone from his pocket only to find out that it’s dead. “Well shit,” he says.

Santana rolls her eyes and turns to Dani. “See what I have to deal with?” she asks her girlfriend. Dani just nods.

Pamela Lansbury is more successful that Kurt had imagined. Thanks to Rachel’s word of mouth at NYADA, Elliott’s connections at NYU, and flyers all over the Spotlight Diner on days Gunther didn’t work, they’ve accumulated a small following in less than six months. Tonight they’re at one of the top dive bars in Brooklyn, but for reasons unknown their lead guitarist is missing.

Elliott’s tryout for the band was eventful, to say the least. Tacky to degrees unseen and with a massive amount of talent, Santana and Rachel both threatened to chop his balls off if he refused to allow Starchild in the band. Elliott was fine with toning down, and he’s since become one of Kurt’s closest friends.

Santana’s phone dings and she checks it. “Well look at that, it’s Elliott. The G line was stopped and he had no service, but when he tried to call Kurt it went straight to voicemail.”

“I got your point,” Kurt snaps. “Guess we should get changed now.”

Elliott arrives five minutes later. “Sorry, man. If I’d known they were doing work I would have gone down to Battery Park and taken the R train. How long do we have?”

“About ten minutes before we go on since we’re first. That enough time?”

“Absolutely,” Elliott jokes. “Oh, by the way, a bunch of guys from my music theory class said they were coming tonight so if you hear a drunk commotion it’s probably them.”

“As opposed to the other drunk hipsters in the audience?” Kurt asks with a smile.

True to his word Elliott’s in costume and prepared just as they’re being introduced. They file out on stage to an emcee who calls them “the greatest Madonna cover band this side of Detroit”. And the show begins.

They’re on top of their game tonight and the crowd is fueling their energy. Kurt starts his transition into a slower tune when he finds a crowd of college boys to stage right that’s waving at Elliott. All except for one guy, who is fixated on Kurt with a shocked look on his face.

It’s Blaine.

Blaine’s in New York. He goes to NYU. With Elliott.

Kurt wants to die.

“I think I want to change things up,” he says. “We were going to party but I feel something different.” He backs up to whisper his song choice to Dani, who nods and starts the chords.

“Seems I’ve played the game for much too long...I let people buy my love, and I never got to sing my songs for you…”

* * *

Blaine is going to kill Elliott.

They aren’t close, per se. He’s only five weeks into his freshman year, of course. Other than his roommate Kyle, Blaine has to make a meaningful friend on campus. But Elliott invited the entire Theory 101 class to Brooklyn to see his Madonna cover band perform.

Then again, how would Elliott know that his bandmate is the very guy Blaine left behind in Ohio?

It’s a sign that the universe hates him.

Kurt’s hair is darker, with blue running through it, and there’s a new tattoo peeking through the sleeve of his t-shirt. But he isn’t the same guy. He’s owning the stage with an air of confidence and the openness he refused to bow to in Lima.

God, he’s even sexier this way, Blaine thinks as he sips his Coke. He vaguely sees the other people on stage--Elliott and two girls, one dark haired backup singer and the keyboardist with green locks--but how could anyone notice them at all when Kurt is right there?

Kurt finds him halfway through the set and locks eyes. Blaine wants to die. Kurt announces he’s changing things up and begins to sing a ballad from Madonna’s older catalog. And he practically sings to Blaine, expressing his feelings in the words she wrote long ago.

“I was not your woman, I was not your friend, but you gave me something to remember…”

If Blaine had been aware of his feeling since that ill-fated Palm Beach trip, they were now in full bloom. And he wanted nothing more than to kiss him senseless.

There are only a few songs left before Pamela Lansbury wraps and the stagehands come out to set up for the next act. Blaine excuses himself from the group and weaves through the crowd towards the bar where he sees the band talking. Kurt is busy chatting with the dark-haired girl when Blaine shows up.

She sees him walk up and offers her hand. “It’s about time I got to officially meet you. I’m Santana.”

“San--oh!” Blaine says as he realizes who she is. He shakes her hand with a smile. “Yes, it’s great to finally meet you!”

“Anyway, I’m going to go make sure our stuff’s packed up. Let me know if anything changes, Hummel.” Santana smiles at both of them, adding a wink toward Kurt, and saunters away.

Kurt finally turns around on the bar stool to face Blaine. “So, New York?”

He nods. “Yeah. I, uh, I go to Steinhardt.”

“And you’re friends with Elliott?”

“I wouldn’t say friends as much as classmates. What brought you here?”

“Santana and I needed a change of pace so we left Lima behind.

“Wow. Do you mind if I sit down?”

“Not at all,” Kurt says. Blaine takes the stool Santana abandoned. The second he does so he’s at a loss for words.

“Kurt, I…”

“Wait, can I start?” Blaine nods. “You were right. I made it difficult for people to get to know. It was on purpose, because I’ve been hurt too much in such a short life, but I never thought I would actually hurt people myself by doing that. And I want to apologize for that. Santana has worked so hard to get me to open up to Elliott and Dani and it...it does feel good.”

Blaine offers a small smile. “Good, I’m happy for you. And I also would like to apologize for turning you down. In my mind I thought it was for the best. I was going to be here in August, which meant we had six months. I’ve learned since then that six months? It would never be enough for you. And watching you on stage tonight, the only thing I could think was...oh, there you are. It’s hard to believe a Madonna song could do that.”

“To be fair, I had that moment when you sang Teenage Dream,” Kurt added.

“Really?” Blaine watches Kurt nod. “Wow, so I really fucked up that night.”

“We both did. But that’s in the past. Let’s let tonight be our official start. So…” Kurt sticks his hand out. “Hello, I’m Kurt Hummel. I’m a waiter and I play in a cover band, and eventually I want to open my own fashion label.”

Blaine shakes it. “It’s nice to meet you Kurt. I’m Blaine Anderson, freshman at NYU with dreams of becoming a music teacher, but secretly I hope I can break into the industry myself.”

“So, Blaine, had you seen videos of Pamela Lansbury before tonight?”

He laughs. “No, I can’t say I have.”

They talk all the way until last call, then Kurt asks a question Blaine’s been waiting to hear for a long time. “Would you like to come home with me?”

* * *

Kurt has fallen in love with winter in New York. An air of romance arrives each time it snows, whether it’s the first one in November, a blanketing of white shimmering under Christmas lights, or even the freak blizzard that decided to show up yesterday.

The heat is out in the loft but he and Blaine are snuggled up under layers of blankets. Santana is riding the storm out at Dani’s apartment and Rachel, unfortunately, was stranded at school. Blaine should have stayed on campus but he told Kurt there was no way they would be separated during this.

They’ve worked it all out and have enjoyed the first months of their relationship. Even the first fight, when Kurt assumed Blaine was spending too much time on his schoolwork and not enough with him, was manageable. Kurt’s even considered the thought that Blaine could one day go from his boyfriend to his husband and it’s less scary that he imagined.

Blaine stirs next to him. “Mmm, morning.”

“Morning,” Kurt replies. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Words that I never thought I’d want to hear again.” Blaine leans in for a kiss.

Kurt returns the kiss. “Pretty sure I was the one more hurt that day.”

“So we’ll pretend it doesn’t exist and this is our first one and continue to outlaw pink from our lives.”

“Good idea.”

They trade kisses for a few minutes until Blaine declares he has to pee. He returns a few minutes later with the blanket off Rachel’s bed and a package of Pop-Tarts. “It looks nasty out there,” he says as he crawls back under and tosses the comforter on top of them.

“That’s fine by me,” Kurt replies. “I’d rather be right here.”

Blaine pulls him closer, thumb rubbing across the latest tattoo on Kurt’s left wrist. To a stranger, the words _young forever_ likely mean Kurt wants to continue enjoying his youth. And he does, though he’s moved his plans for school up to the coming fall. In reality, Kurt would be caught dead before he revealed it was part of a lyric to a bubblegum pop song. But it’s the song that finally made him want to live life and not shelter away. And he’s here with the person who made him realize that.


End file.
